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Hardware vs. Software: Hardware is the physical part of the computer that we can touch such as keyboard, mouse, modem, monitor, hard drive, etc. Software is the set of instructions that tell the hardware what to do such as Solitaire, Word, Excel, Access, DOS, Windows, etc. 

Word Processing Software: Software used to create, edit, save and print documents - even term papers! Although we will focus on Microsoft Word in this class, other popular word processing programs include Word Perfect, Works, Word Star, Professional Write, etc. 

Spreadsheet Software: Software which uses a grid of rows and columns to perform calculations - the ultimate calculator! Although we will focus on Microsoft Excel in this class, other popular spreadsheet programs include Lotus 1-2-3, Quattro Pro, Visicalc, Multiplan, etc. 

Database Software: Software designed to store, sort, and retrieve information previously stored in filing cabinets and index cards - even recipes! Although we will focus on Microsoft Access in this class, other popular database programs include dBase, Fox Pro, Professional File, etc. 

Computer memory: Computer memory is measured in unit sizes based on binary numbers since everything in the computer is represented by a switch which has only two states; On = 1 or Off = 0 
bit = one switch which is either on or off (a one or a zero) 
byte = 8 bits (amount of memory required to hold just one character) 
KB = kilobyte (K) approx. 1,000 bytes, exactly 1,024 bytes (2¹⁰) 
MB = megabyte (meg) approx. 1,000,000 bytes, exactly 1,048,576 bytes (2²⁰) 
GB = gigabyte (gig) approx. 1,000,000,000 bytes-1,073,741,824 bytes (2³⁰) 
TB = terabyte approx. 1,000,000,000,000 bytes
A petabyte is is approx. 1000 terabytes
A exabyte is approx. 1000 petabytes
 

RAM vs. ROM: RAM stands for Random Access Memory and is the memory that our programs are loaded into when we run a program. It is volatile in that when the power blinks, everything in RAM is lost. When we type a letter, everything we type is stored in RAM, until we save it to a file on a disk. Today RAM is measured in megs (MB or megabytes) - 32 MB, 64 MB, or 128MB of RAM is standard in a PC today. ROM stands for Read Only Memory and holds information that is permanently stored there to hold information the computer needs when it boots (is first turned on). 

3.5" floppy disk: Device used to store computer information. There is actually a flexible magnetic surface inside the hard protective cover that holds the information - 1.44 megabytes of information! A floppy disk will hold 1,440,000 characters of information. If we were to imagine that a double-spaced, typed page contained approximately 1,000 characters, a little 3.5" floppy disk will hold the equivalent of 1,440 typed pages! A ream of paper that you put in a copier is typically only 500 sheets of paper. This little diskette holds the equivalent of almost three reams of paper filled with double-spaced, typed words! Although floppy diskettes hold a lot of information, by today's standards, it doesn't really hold much.

Hard disk: Device used to store computer information - hardware usually mounted inside your computer case. There are actually magnetic, metal surfaces inside a hard drive that holds the information - and lots of it! Inexpensive hard drives today will hold 4 to 8 gigs of information. That is 4,000,000,000 to 8,000,000,000 characters! If you attempted to stack up 3.5" floppy disks, one on top of the other, to get the same amount of storage, you would have a stack of floppy diskettes 35 to 70  feet tall - you'd need a stack of 2,778 floppies! For less than $200 in 1999, you could buy a 20GB hard drive.

CD-ROM: Stands for Compact Disk Read Only Memory. Device used to store large amounts of information - 650MBs on one CD! CD-ROMs use laser technology to store information. Compare this storage capacity to a 1.44MB floppy disk. Although CDRs and CDRWs allow the user to store information on a CD, the process requires several steps using special software to place the image on a CD. You can't just save a file from a word processor on a CD. Rather, you save the file on the hard drive, then run special CD writing software to burn a copy of the file (usually hundreds or thousands of files and directories) on the CD. It can take 30 minutes to burn 650MBs of information on a CD at 4x speeds.

DVD-ROM: Stands for Digital Video Disk ROM. Device used to store very large amounts of information - 4.7GBs to 17GBs on one DVD-ROM. Compare this storage capacity to a .65GB (650MB) CD! We're talking about a lot of storage space! Think about how many full floppy disks would fit on one 17GB DVD - we would have to divide 17,000MBs (17GBs) by 1.44MB to get the answer. Wow! You can see why some people are predicting that the floppy disk may soon be a thing of the past. Some new computers today ship without a floppy disk drive at all.

Modem: Modem is a hardware device used to connect a computer to a telephone line. It is the part of the computer with a phone jack on it. Modem is short for MODulator/DEModulator - thus the name MODEM. It converts the digital information in the computer into analog sounds that can pass over a telephone line. The modem on the other end of the phone line, converts the sounds into digital information that the computer can understand. If you've ever picked up a phone line when a fax machine was transmitting, you have heard the sounds that a modem produces on one end and interprets on the other. 

Minicomputer - too large for a desktop. 
Microcomputer - PC like one on your desk. 

Hard Copy vs. Soft Copy: A hard copy is a printed page and a soft copy is something on the screen or stored electronically. 

Desktop: the area on your screen that comes up when Windows 9x is loaded - usually a green background (often Windows 98 defaults to a blue background) with tiny pictures on it. It is a workspace for your projects and tools. 

Windows: boundaries that define work areas on the desktop. 

Microsoft Windows 95 or 98: computer operating system designed to make the computer simple to use. It is a software package and it is the first program that loads when the computer is turned on. Once loaded, it displays the taskbar and start menu at the bottom, the desktop and often will display icons or shortcuts on the desktop. 

Icon: tiny picture that represents something. Notice the recycle bin icon on your desktop. This is a trash can that we can use to throw things away on the computer. It also needs emptying from time to time. 

WYSIWYG: acronym that stands for What You See Is What You Get. If you type a letter with one inch tall letters, you will see the letters appear on the screen just as they will appear when printed. Sounds strange today to be talking about WYSIWYG, but just a few years ago in about 1987-89, it was a big issue to have a new, faster computer that would display on the screen exactly what you would see when your information was printed on the printer. Back then computers were too slow to be able to draw a big letter on the screen as fast as you typed it - unless you used the Apple MacIntosh which was released in 1984 (or Apple's Lisa in 1983). The majority of IBM compatible computers were too slow to actually run Windows until around 1990-91. 

GUI: Stands for Graphical User Interface and is pronounced "gooey". In the 1970's, researchers were looking for a way to make the computer easier to use - so that you didn't need to be an electrical engineer or electronics wizard to be able to operate a computer. Researchers found that two year old children could use a pointing device and slide it around and point and click at objects on the screen. This idea of a graphical user interface where users can use a mouse to point and click on icons in a WYSIWYG environment is what we see in computers today. 

Three states of a window:
Maximized Window: full screen. 
Minimized Window: still running in memory, but window is out of sight and a button representing the program appears on the taskbar. The taskbar is the gray bar across the bottom of the screen (unless it has been moved or hidden). The Start button is on the taskbar.
Restored Window: not full screen, and has sizable borders so user can change the size of the window. 

Seven things a mouse can do: (see Mouse link top left)
1. point - slide mouse around until arrow is positioned on something 
2. click - press and release the left mouse button 
3. double click - two rapid clicks 
4. right click - press and release the right mouse button 
5. drag and drop - point to something, hold in left mouse button while sliding mouse to a new position, then release mouse button. 
6. right drag and drop - drag and drop with right mouse button
7. hover - point at an object for a second or two

Almost EVERYTHING can be done either with or without a mouse! 

Different Mouse pointers:
Arrow - just a pointing arrow 
I-beam - when pointing to an area over a text box 
Double headed Arrow - when pointing to a sizable border 
Hour glass - tells us to wait for the computer to finish doing something 
Hand with pointing finger - indicates a hypertext link 

Switching between multiple applications: Hold down the ALT key, while tapping the TAB key. Each time you tap the TAB key you'll highlight a different program currently running. When you have selected the program you want to switch focus to, release the ALT key. 

Title Bar: blue border/bar at the top of a window which contains the name of the application. It is the handle used to move a window when the window is in the restore position. Point to the title bar with the mouse, then drag and drop the window to a new location on the desktop. 

Control Menu: Program icon in the upper left corner of a window on the same line as the title bar. Windows 3.1 used a box with a minus sign in the same position. Used to restore, move, size, minimize, maximize or close a window - handy for keyboard users. Access from the keyboard by pressing ALT, plus the space bar. 

Explorer: Windows 9x file manager which can be used to see files and the file structure on a disk. Can launch applications by double-clicking the executable file (with .exe extension), or directly  open a document file by double clicking. When a file extension is associated with a program, Windows will automatically launch the associated application before automatically loading the document file which was double clicked. 

Directory or Folder: an electronic space on a disk used to separate similar files and keep them organized together. DOS used the term directory and Windows uses the term folder - are the same. 

Directory Tree: the organization of the branching structure of the directories on a disk. The left pane of the Windows Explorer displays the branches of the directory tree of the selected drive or folder. A plus indicates the branch is collapsed. Click on the plus to expand a collapsed branch. The plus changes to a minus. Click on the minus to collapse an expanded branch of the directory tree. 

Drive Letters: Each disk on a Windows based computer is assigned a drive letter, starting with the letters A and B for the first two floppy disk drives. The letter C is used for the first hard drive. Additional hard drives are often assigned the next available letters, such as D or E and so forth. A CD ROM is usually assigned to the letter D or E, but can be any letter. If a network is attached to a computer, the network drive is often assigned the letter F, but it could be any letter. 

From a DOS prompt or a Save As dialog box in Windows,  we can include the drive letter followed by a colon, plus an optional path, before our file name to quickly indicate which disk we want used. This saves time in selecting the drive and path without using a mouse. For example, if I wanted to save a file named WORK on my floppy disk in the A drive I could tell a windows program to FILE, then SAVE AS, then just type in the following in the file name text box: A:WORK and then press enter. This saves having to click around on the drive list box (or look in box), then click on the file name box, then click on OK. If I wanted to save the same file in a folder on my A drive named myhw, after clicking on FILE, then SAVE AS, I could just type A:\MYHW\WORK and press the enter key. 

Learn keyboard shortcuts! They save seconds EVERY TIME you use them! Especially for commonly used tasks like saving files - you'll save a file almost every time you use your computer! Use CTRL + S to save a file, CTRL + P to print a file, CTRL + O to open a file, etc. Keyboard shortcuts are listed on pull down menus to the right of the command it represents.

Check Box: a Windows object in the shape of a box which allows the user to click to turn on and off an option. Windows users can select all, none, or only a few of any check box options. 

Option Box: a Windows object in the shape of a circle which allows the user to click to select an option. Often called radio buttons because users can only select one option - just like a radio preset button will only let the user select one radio station at a time. 

Text Box: a Windows object which is an area where text can be typed. Whenever the mouse pointer is over a text box, the mouse pointer changes into an I-beam. As long as the mouse pointer is in the shape of an I-beam, the user can click to make an insertion point appear. An insertion point is a blinking vertical line which indicates where the next character you type will appear. Only when an insertion point appears, can a user type text into a text box. 

Create a New Folder (DOS calls a folder a directory): right click a drive, folder, or desktop. When the pop up menu appears, click NEW, then click FOLDER. Your new folder will appear with the name of the new folder highlighted or selected. Type the name for your new folder and press the enter key. 

Remove a Folder: click on the folder to select it. Press the delete key and answer yes to the question "Are you sure?" 

Rename a File or Folder: Click on the file or folder. Wait a quick second, then click on the words (the name of the folder),  and wait another quick second. The name of the file or folder will appear highlighted or selected. Type in your new name and press enter key. Alternatively, you can right click a folder and click RENAME. 

Format a disk: When a disk is used for the first time, unless it was pre-formatted when you got it, it must be formatted. Old diskettes can be formatted to remove old files and folders, making it just like a brand new blank diskette. Formatting actually writes blank tracks and sectors on the diskette, erasing everything that was on it - except for a quick format which only clears the directory track allowing the computer to think that the disk is blank. Quick formatting can only be done on a disk that has already been formatted at some time before. To format a disk, double click the My Computer icon, then right click the drive you want to format, then click FORMAT from the shortcut menu.

Tile vs. Cascade: With two applications running (not minimized) at the same time, right click a blank gray area of the taskbar - careful not to click on one of the application buttons. A pop up menu will appear. You can select Tile or Cascade. Tile will arrange open windows on the desktop so that they do not overlap. Cascade will arrange open windows in an overlapping pattern when only the tile bar is visible. Many applications which allow you to open more than one file at a time, allow you to Tile or Cascade windows from the Window menu.  Word 2000 actually creates another copy of Word on your taskbar.

Input: Anything typed, scanned, read, or touched into the computer. Input devices include; mouse, keyboard, scanner, touch screen, microphone, digital camera, etc. 

Output: Anything printed or written from the computer. Examples of output devices would include a printer or a monitor (screen).

DOS 8.3 file naming conventions: Although Windows 9x allows file names to be up to 256 characters long (including full path), many situations require the use of DOS file naming rules. Some networks require 8 character file names. Any program written for DOS or Windows 3.x will too. Unless a program is specifically written for Windows 9x, it will require us to use DOS file naming rules. Since Windows 9x will run older software which was written to run on DOS or Windows 3.x, many of the same invalid characters in DOS file names are also invalid characters in Windows 9x file names. Programs which do not recognize long file names will use an abbreviated file name with a tilde (~) character when it opens files with long file names.

DOS file names have three parts: 
1. base name - from 1 to 8 valid file name characters 
2. period (dot) - to separate the base name and the extension 
3. extension - from 0 to 3 valid file name characters 

Valid characters include: letters A to Z, number 0 to 9, dash (-), underscore ( _ ), tilde (~), at (@), dollar sign ($), explanation (!), pound or number sign (#), caret (^), 

Invalid characters include: greater than (>), less than (<), asterisk (*), pipe ( | ), colon (:), plus (+), ampersand (&), percent (%), question mark (?), slash ( / ), backslash ( \ ), 

Three character extensions: Windows uses the three character extension to associate data files with application programs. Windows knows which application to load based on the registered extension when a user double-clicks a data file. For example, here are a couple of dozen of the more common file extensions and the application associated with them - there are hundreds more: